× Search rightsnet
Search options

Where

Benefit

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

From

to

Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Covid-19 issues  →  Thread

Backdated UC post LCWRA or other disability benefit decision

ZoeHBF
forum member

Welfare and Housing, Helen Bamber Foundation (London)

Send message

Total Posts: 79

Joined: 14 May 2017

Hello - I’ve noticed over the last few months that UC seem to be getting much worse at automatically backdating / issuing underpayments for claimants who have received a decision that they have LCWRA.

I thought this seemed to be administrated relatively OK prior to this year, but it seems that for all of our clients who get LCWRA at the moment we now have to chase UC on the journal for several months asking a) that the LCWRA element be added to their payments going forward (and any benefit cap deductions be removed), and b) that this element be backdated to previous payments from 3 months after they provided their first medical certificate.

For a) it seems that this happens more automatically, but for b) underpayments don’t seem to be issued routinely/automatically, and when they are, they are usually not backdated sufficiently (e.g. only for two months, when the person provided their first medical certificate in November last year).

I’m asking about this because I work in the asylum/refugee sector, and we have several stakeholder forums with the Home Office where, whilst systemic inequalities are raised, the civil servants there are much open/able to take on administrative/technical issues and see if they can be sorted out, and this appears to be one of those but within UC?

Timothy Seaside
forum member

Housing services - Arun District Council

Send message

Total Posts: 539

Joined: 20 September 2018

Frankly, I think this is to do with a lack of training within DWP - and the rush to get thousands of new people working on UC. I have seen similar issues and had arguments that shouldn’t have been necessary about when the LCWRA element should have started. Of course it may also have something to do with outsourcing DWP functions to private sector businesses who are happy to hoover up public money but not so keen on providing a decent service.